Load-bearing vest overlay jacket

ABSTRACT

A load-bearing vest overlay jacket (“overlay jacket”) is an overgarment configured to be joined with and fastened to a load-bearing vest (“tactical vest”) so that an open front area exists between the front left and front right of the overlay jacket, permitting a user&#39;s access to equipment on the tactical vest. Thus, the overlay jacket may provide uniform, comfortable body temperatures in colder weather, to include arm warmth and upper torso warmth, as a function of either optionally-insulated sleeve and/or torso regions of the overlay jacket, or of torso warmth provided by the tactical vest underlying the overlay jacket.

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional App. Ser. No.63/151,990 filed Feb. 22, 2021, which is incorporated by reference inits entirely for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present invention relate, in general, to outerwear,and more particularly to professional protective garments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aforementioned and other features and objects of the presentinvention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent,and the invention itself will be best understood, by reference to thefollowing description of one or more embodiments taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a front view of the load-bearing vest overlay jacketoverlaying a load-bearing vest with various equipment according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is an exploded front view showing the load-bearing vest overlayjacket as separated from and above an underlying load-bearing vest withvarious equipment according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of one embodiment of the load-bearingvest overlay jacket showing of the present invention.

FIG. 3 presents a set of Pouch Attachment Ladder System (PALS)strap-and-loop attachments incorporated to the side of a ModularLightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE)-compatible load-bearing vestoverlay jacket according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view of the complementary PALS attachments of a typicalload-bearing vest configured to affix to the PALS attachments of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a strap with a cap-&-socket snap set at the ends of thestrap as equipped according to one embodiment of the overlay jacket ofthe present invention

FIG. 6 is a view of the securing of the load-bearing vest overlay jacketto the load-bearing vest using the strap of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the load-bearing vest overlay jacket of thepresent invention as it is secured to a load-bearing vest.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a methodology formanufacturing the load-bearing vest overlay jacket of the presentinvention.

The Figures depict embodiments of the present invention for purposes ofillustration only. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Inthe figures, the sizes of certain lines, layers, components, elements orfeatures may be exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to likeelements throughout. In the figures, the sizes of certain lines, layers,components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Oneskilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussionthat alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustratedherein may be employed without departing from the principles of theinvention described herein.

DESCRIPTION Overview

A load-bearing vest overlay jacket (or “overlay jacket”) 100, aspresented in FIG. 1, joins as an overgarment for a load-bearing vest (or“tactical vest”) 110, providing warmth and protection from the elementsfor a user's arms, sides and back, while also providing the user accessto tactical vest equipment 120 through an open front area 180 betweenthe left front 130 and the right front 140 of the overlay jacket 100 andthe underlying tactical vest 110, respectively. Tactical vests 110 areusually worn over a user's uniform or other clothing, and body armor isoften mounted—depending upon the first-responder's role—inside thesetactical vests 110. The overlay jacket 100 permits the user to storeequipment 120 on the exterior of the tactical vest 110 rather than onthe user's pants belt, providing better equipment 120 access andequipment 120 load distribution while not disturbing the custom fit ofthe user's body armor. The overlay jacket 100 of the present inventionbetter accommodates tactical vests 110 laden with body armor andequipment 120, enabling a user to avoid having to periodically don anddoff a tactical vest 110 to address thermal comfort and otherenvironmental concerns, while also permitting the user to gainprotection from thermal and other environmental impacts.

Embodiments of the present invention are hereafter described in detailwith reference to the accompanying Figures. Although the invention hasbeen described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity,it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by wayof example and that numerous changes in the combination and arrangementof parts can be resorted to by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments of the present invention as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the embodiments described hereincan be made without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructionsare omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of theinvention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not forthe purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claimsand their equivalents.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface”includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the specification andrelevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions orconstructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

It will be also understood that when an element is referred to as being“on,” “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”,“mounted” etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to,connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element orintervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an elementis referred to as being, for example, “directly on,” “directly attached”to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directlycontacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present.It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that referencesto a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another featuremay have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.

Spatially relative terms, such as “under,” “below,” “lower,” “over,”“upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description todescribe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) orfeature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that thespatially relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of a device in use or operation in addition to theorientation depicted in the figures. For example, if a device in thefigures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” otherelements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements orfeatures. Thus, the exemplary term “under” can encompass both anorientation of “over” and “under”. The device may be otherwise oriented(rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relativedescriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. Similarly, the terms“upwardly,” “downwardly,” “vertical,” “horizontal” and the like are usedherein for the purpose of explanation only unless specifically indicatedotherwise.

Referencing FIG. 1, an overlay jacket 100, according to one embodimentof the present invention, includes a left front 130, a right front 140,a pair of sleeves 150, 160, and a back 170. The left front 130 and rightfront 140 are disjoint so that an open front area 180 is created,exposing a tactical vest 110 underlying the overlay jacket 100. The openfront area 180 permits a user to access equipment 120 mounted on thetactical vest 110. The left front 130, right front 140 and back 170 areconfigured to be circumferentially greater than the tactical vest 110,accommodating the tactical vest 110 and forming a gap or space betweeneach of the left front 130, right front 140, back 170 and the tacticalvest 110.

The overlay jacket 100, as shown in FIG. 1, can be removably coupled toa tactical vest 110, or the like, and configured to accommodate ModularLightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE) standards and furtherconfigured to use Pouch Attachment Ladder System (PALS) strap-and-loopattachments as shown in FIGS. 3-5. Such uses effectively integrates theoverlay jacket 100 and the tactical vest 110 into a single tacticalequipment system. Securing portions of the left front 130 and the rightfront 140 of the overlay jacket 100 to near the bottom of the tacticalvest 110, reduces the likelihood of snagging fence posts, tree limbs, orother potential environmental snags by the overlay jacket 100, whilepresenting a professional uniform appearance. Further, the overlayjacket 100 can be quickly donned and doffed, yet it can also easily andquickly be secured to a tactical vest 110 so that the overlay jacket100; does not have lower front portions that flap around loosely andendlessly as the user maneuvers; presents a professional appearance,since these lower portions are secure; better maintains thermal andelemental protection, as a result of a number of factors discussedbelow; and permits unfettered access to equipment 120 on the tacticalvest 110. Thus, the overlay jacket 100 permits users to maintainuniform, comfortable body temperatures in colder weather—to include armwarmth and upper torso warmth—as a function either of its insulatedsleeves 150, 160 for the user's arms or of the torso warmth provided bythe tactical vest 110 underlying the left front 130 and right front 140of the overlay jacket 100.

Additional Features

Other embodiments of the overlay jacket 100 of the present invention,may include other features and advantages. For example, in one versionof the present invention the overlay jacket 100 is designed to beshorter in length than a traditional overgarment (or “traditionaljacket”), extending approximately to the length of the tactical vest110, thus allowing the user to access equipment on the user's pantsbelt, such as firearms, medical equipment or other first-responderequipment FIG. 7. In another embodiment, the overlay jacket 100 can bedesigned to be oversized in the torso to fit a tactical vest 110 withbody armor and/or bulky equipment 120, providing easier access to theequipment 120 while making donning and doffing thermally-protectiveovergarments likewise easier, all while the user is wearing a tacticalvest 110.

Further, in contrast to problems generated from the wear of atraditional jacket under the tactical vest 110, the overlay jacket 100enables a user to avoid being forced to make the choice between wearinga traditional jacket under the tactical vest 110 for the entirety of awork shift or periodically having to doff and don the tactical vest 110to doff and don the traditional jacket throughout the shift, while theuser transits through various temperature-regulated and -unregulatedenvironments. While a user may feel comfortable outdoors wearing atraditional jacket under the tactical vest 110, transiting into anindoor environment may result in unacceptably warm temperatures for theuser. Taking the time to remove the user's tactical vest 110 to don anddoff the underlying, traditional jacket poses obvious undesirable timeand safety concerns during typical first-responder shifts. Recall thatthe tactical vest 110 holds the user's armor as well as equipment 120vital for the user to successfully perform assigned duties; it keeps theuser safe. Donning and doffing a tactical vest 110 within the confinesof threat environments is not practical. Additionally, the armor in atypical tactical vest 110 is custom-fit to the user; wearing atraditional jacket under such an armor-laden a tactical vest 110 meansthe armor will not fit the user correctly and may even pose aself-defense problem resulting from armor spacing issues arising fromincorrectly-fitting armor. The overlay jacket 100 obviates each of theseconcerns, while also providing a less cumbersome option for thermal andelemental protection.

As with problems highlighted above concerning the wear of a traditionaljacket under a tactical vest 110, wearing a traditional jacket over atactical vest 110 poses its own set of problems. For instance, tacticalvest 110 users typically affix equipment 120 to the tactical vest 110for ease-of-access and rapid response; with equipment 120 attached tothe front of the tactical vest 110, the user can redistribute weightfrom the user's hips—where such equipment 120 would otherwise beattached to a duty belt—onto the tactical vest 110, for added usercomfort, equipment 120 access and mobility. But access to equipment 120is unavailable to the user if the traditional jacket is zipped. Also, azipped traditional jacket obscures cameras required in somejurisdictions to be mounted and unobscured on all first-respondertactical vests 110. Further, to accommodate a user wearing a tacticalvest 110, such a traditional jacket must be oversized as compared to atraditional jacket sized for a user not wearing such a tactical vest110. This means that while the torso portion of a traditional jacket mayfit the user well while the user is wearing a tactical vest 110, thetraditional jacket's sleeves will likewise be oversized for the user'sarms—which will not be covered with load-bearing material orequipment—and thus expose the user's arms to environmental impacts as aresult of the excess fabric around the user's arms as well as theadditional spaces arising between the user's arms and the oversized,traditional jacket sleeves. Further, if a user opts to leave thetraditional jacket unzipped for better equipment 120 access, atraditional jacket presents an unprofessional appearance, as thetraditional jacket's unsecured, front lower portions of the unfastenedtraditional jacket flop loosely at the user's sides. Additionally, anopen, unfastened, traditional jacket easily permits undesired airflow toflow under the traditional jacket. More critically, as the bottom, frontportions of the traditional jacket flop loosely around, these portionsoften cover the user's critical pants belt equipment, such as a sidearmor other time-critically-needed equipment, preventing timely access tosuch equipment. Finally, the traditional jacket's flopping, lowerportions pose snagging hazards for the user. These are especially ofconcern when time-critical user mobility is required. Traditionaljackets thus pose several problems to users wearing tactical vests 110.These and other deficiencies of the jackets of the prior art areaddressed by one or more embodiments of the present invention.

The overlay jacket 100 solves each of these “overwear” problemsassociated with a traditional jacket. First, the left front 130 andright front 140 of the overlay jacket 100 are disjoint forming an openfront area 180 allowing unfettered access to equipment 120 mounted onthe tactical vest 110. Second, the left front 130 and the right front140 each removably fasten, respectively, to the tactical vest 110 nearthe lower portion of the open front area 180, FIG. 7. Third, by beingdesigned to be oversized for the user's torso region to accommodate auser with a tactical vest 110, and being designed to be normally-sizedin the user's arm regions, the overlay jacket 100 accommodates thenormal size of a user's arms for a traditional jacket sized to a usernot wearing a tactical vest 110 while simultaneously accommodating theuser's wearing a tactical vest 110.

As alluded to in the previous paragraph, the overlay jacket 100 can beremovably fastened to the tactical vest 110. In one embodiment, the leftfront 130 and the right front 140 each can be fastened, respectively, tothe tactical vest 110 near the lower portion of the open front area 180with any fastener or fastening system compatible with a tactical vest110. In one embodiment the tactical vest 110 and overlay jacket 100include a MOLLE configuration, using a PALS strap-and-loop fasteningsystem as shown in FIG. 6. While a PALS fastening system FIG. 6 is notthe only means of fastening the overlay jacket's left front 130 andright front 140 to the tactical vest 110—any of an array of fastenersmay be used (e.g., zippers, snaps, buttons, hook-and-loop fasteners,fabric straps, etc.)—PALS-type fasteners are often used onMOLLE-equipped tactical vests 110. In a MOLLE system, loops (or“webbing”) 400 are attached to the outside of a garment (e.g., abackpack or tactical vest 110), while other systems (e.g., PALS 200, 500etc.) or fasteners weave through or hook to the MOLLE webbing 400 tofasten equipment 120. And although in one embodiment the overlay jacket100 is attached to a tactical vest 110, FIGS. 3-7 using a PALS-type offastener, the overlay jacket 100 can be used with and fastened to anyunderlying clothing requiring access to the front-torso, open front areaof the clothing. Referencing FIGS. 3-7, MOLLE webbing 400 andcomplementary PALS loops 200 on the overlay jacket 100 are joined bythreading a strap 500 through both sets of loops 200, 400 and joiningonto itself 500 using a cap 510 and socket 520 fastener FIG. 6. Thefastened set of PALS/MOLLE loops 200, 400, FIG. 7 secures the overlayjacket 100 to the tactical vest 110, joining the two effectively into asingle overlay-jacket/tactical-vest system FIG. 7.

The overlay jacket 100 may also be designed to be shorter than thelength of the tactical vest 110 so that the lower portion of the back ofthe tactical vest 110 is exposed, permitting access to additionalequipment mounted on the back of the tactical vest 110, as many tacticalvests' MOLLE/PALS systems (FIGS. 3-7) extend around to the back portionsof such tactical vests. Essentially, such an embodiment would be a“half-overlay-jacket”: The half-overlay-jacket would still cover theuser's shoulders and arms but would also provide additional access toback-mounted equipment, should the user desire.

One or more portions of the overlay jacket 100 can be insulated toaccommodate user comfort requirements. For example, the sleeves 150, 160and/or torso 130, 140, 170 of the overlay jacket 100 may be insulatedwith either permanent or removable insulating materials, permitting arange of temperatures within which a user may operate. For example, ifthe temperatures are above 50-degrees Fahrenheit, a user may choosesimply to wear any overlay jacket 100 without insulation. At lowertemperatures, the user may choose instead to wear an overlay jacket 100having sleeves 150, 160 that are insulated yet with no additionalinsulation on the left front 130 right front 140 or back 170. At evencolder temperatures, the user may choose to wear an overlay jacket 100having insulation throughout the overlay jacket 100, including thesleeves 150, 160 and each of the left front 130, right front 140 or back170.

The overlay jacket 100 may also include a drawstring 210 that eitherjoins together with itself at the lower portion of the overlay jacket100 or remains un-joined as shown in FIG. 2. Additionally, the tensionof the drawstring 210 may be adjusted as the user desires to permit orinhibit airflow entering the lower portions of the overlay jacket 100through the space or gap 190, as drawstring 210 tension is loosened ortightened, respectively, according to the user's desires. Additionaldrawstrings may be added to the overlay jacket 100 at various torsolocations to minimize left front 130 and right front 140 bowing, so thatthe airflow flowing through these potentially bowed regions (dependingupon the user's torso and tactical vest 110 contours vis-à-vis theoverlay jacket 100) can be adjusted according to user demand.

Various Embodiments and Features

In general, the invention may feature an overlay jacket 100 comprising aback 170, a left front 130, a right front 140, and a pair of sleeves150, 160, joined into an overgarment configured to be joined with atactical vest 110. In this overlay jacket 100, the right front 140 andthe left front 130 are disjoint, forming an open front area 180. A frontportion of the tactical vest 110 occupies the open front area 180independent of the left front 130 and the right front 140; and the back170, the left front 130 and right front 140 are each dimensioned to becircumferentially greater than the tactical vest, forming a gap 190between the tactical vest 110 and each of the back 170, the left front130 and the right front 140. The gap 190 and the open front area 180 areconfigured to permit access to one or more pieces of equipment 120removably coupled to the tactical vest, and the sleeves 150, 160 includea optional thermal protection layer to cover a full length of a humanarm. Further, the left front 130 and the right front 140 each includeone or more fasteners configured to removably fasten or couple the leftfront 130 and the right front 140, respectively, to a left lower portionand a right lower portion of the tactical vest 110 near the open frontarea 180.

In general, the invention may also feature a method, as illustrated inthe flowchart shown in FIG. 8, for manufacturing an overlay jacket 100,comprising joining 810 a back 170, a left front 130, a right front 140,and a pair of sleeves 150, 160, into an overlay jacket 100. The blocksof the flowchart illustrations support combinations of means forperforming the specified functions and combinations of steps forperforming the specified functions. It will be understood that eachblock of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardwareand/or hardware-based computer systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware andcomputer instructions.

The overlay jacket 100 may be configured to join with a tactical vest110 so that the right front 140 and the left front 130 are disjoint,creating an open front area 180. Further, a front portion of thetactical vest 110 occupies this open front area 180, independent of theleft front 130 and the right front 140; and the back 170, the left front130, and right front 140 are designed to be circumferentially greaterthan the torso of the tactical vest 110, so that a gap 190 is formedbetween the tactical vest 110 and the back 170, the left front 130, andthe right front 140. The gap 190 is further configured to permit accessto one or more pieces of equipment 120 removably coupled to the tacticalvest 110. A thermal protection layer is to the sleeves 150, 160 and thesleeves 150, 160 cover the full length of a human arm. Finally, one ormore fasteners are incorporated into each of the left front 130 and theright front 140, and the one or more fasteners are configured to fastenthe left front 130 and the right front 140, respectively, to a leftlower portion and a right lower portion of the tactical vest 110 near(i.e., proximate to) the gap.

The invention may include one or more of the following features, andthese features may be used singly, or in combination with each other.The overlay jacket 100 may be configured to provide unimpeded access tothe one or more pieces of equipment 120 removably coupled to thetactical vest 110. The overlay jacket 100 may have a thermal protectionlayer, and the thermal protection may be configured to provideprotection for temperatures at or below 50 degree Fahrenheit, and theoverlay jacket's 100 left front 130, right front 140 and back 170 may bevoid of the thermal protection layer. The overlay jacket 100 may includeone or more PALS systems and the one or more fasteners 500 may beconfigured to couple the overlay jacket 100 to the PALS systems 200, 400of the overlay jacket 100. The overlay jacket 100 may include one ormore hook and loop fasteners, loop and snap fastener, and/or cap andsocket fasteners. The overlay jacket 100 may include a left front 130interior surface and a right front 140 interior surface, and each of theleft front 130 interior surface and the right front 140 interior surfacemay include a PALS system 200, 500, and the one or more fasteners may beconfigured to respectively couple the PALS system 200, 500 of the leftfront 130 interior surface and the right front 140 interior surface ofthe overlay jacket 100 to the tactical vest 110.

The above advantages and features are of representative embodiments onlyand are not all-inclusive. They are presented only to assist inunderstanding the invention, thus it should be understood that they arenot to be considered limitations on the invention as defined the claims.Novel features and additional advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the above description, the drawings, and the claims. Manyof these features will also become apparent to those skilled in the artupon examination of the entire specification or may be a human arm; andlearned through practice of the invention.

For clarity of explanation, the above description has focused on arepresentative sample of all possible embodiments, a sample that teachesthe principles of the invention and conveys the best mode contemplatedfor carrying it out. The invention is not limited to the describedembodiments. Well known features may not have been described in detailto avoid unnecessarily obscuring the principles relevant to the claimedinvention. Throughout this application and its associated file history,when the term “invention” is used, it refers to the entire collection ofideas and principles described; in contrast, the formal definition ofthe exclusive protected property right is set forth in the claims, whichexclusively control.

The description has not attempted to exhaustively enumerate all possiblevariations. Other undescribed variations or modifications may bepossible. Where multiple alternative embodiments are described, in manycases it will be possible to combine elements of different embodiments,or to combine elements of the embodiments described here with othermodifications or variations that are not expressly described. A list ofitems does not imply that any or all the items are mutually exclusive,nor that any or all the items are comprehensive of any category, unlessexpressly specified otherwise. In many cases, one feature or group offeatures may be used separately from the entire apparatus or methodsdescribed. Many of those undescribed alternatives, variations,modifications, and equivalents are within the literal scope of thefollowing claims, and others are equivalent. The claims may be practicedwithout some or all the specific details described in the specification.In many cases, method steps described in this specification can beperformed in different orders than that presented in this specification,or in parallel rather than sequentially, or in different computers of acomputer network, rather than all on a single computer.

I claim:
 1. A tactical vest overlay jacket comprising: a back, a leftfront, a right front, and a pair of sleeves, joined into an overgarmentconfigured to be joined with a tactical vest, wherein the right frontand the left front are disjoint forming an open front area and wherein afront portion of the tactical vest occupies the open front areaindependent of the left front and the right front, and wherein the back,the left front, and right front are each dimensioned to becircumferentially greater than the tactical vest; a thermal protectionlayer incorporated into each of the pair of sleeves; and one or morefasteners configured to fasten the left front and the right front,respectively, to a left lower portion and a right lower portion of thetactical vest proximate of the open front area.
 2. The tactical vestovergarment of claim 1, wherein the gap is configured to provideunimpeded access to the one or more pieces of equipment removablycoupled to the tactical vest.
 3. The tactical vest overlay jacket ofclaim 1, wherein the thermal protection layer is configured to provideprotection for temperatures at or below 50 degree Fahrenheit
 4. Thetactical vest overlay jacket of claim 1, wherein the left front, theright front and the back are void of the thermal protection layer. 5.The tactical vest overlay jacket of claim 1, wherein the lower portionof the overlay jacket has a drawstring.
 6. The tactical vest overlayjacket of claim 1, wherein the tactical vest includes pouch attachmentladders system (PALS) webbing and wherein the one or more fasteners areconfigured to couple the overlay jacket to the PALS webbing of thetactical vest.
 7. The tactical vest overlay jacket of claim 5, whereinthe one or more fasteners are each a hook and loop fastener.
 8. Thetactical vest overlay jacket of claim 5, wherein the one or morefasteners are each a loop and snap fastener.
 9. The tactical vestoverlay jacket of claim 5, wherein the one or more fasteners are each acap and socket fastener.
 10. The tactical vest overlay jacket of claim1, further comprising a left front interior surface and a right frontinterior surface and wherein each of the left front interior surface andthe right front interior surface includes pouch attachment ladderssystem (PALS) webbing and wherein the one or more fasteners areconfigured to respectively couple the PALS webbing of the left frontinterior surface and the right front interior surface of the overlayjacket to the tactical vest.
 11. The tactical vest overlay jacket ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more fasteners are each a hook and loopfastener.
 12. The tactical vest overlay jacket of claim 9, wherein theone or more fasteners are each a loop and snap fastener.
 13. Thetactical vest overlay jacket of claim 9, wherein the one or morefasteners are each a cap and socket fastener.
 14. The tactical vestoverlay jacket of claim 1, further comprising a gap between the tacticalvest and each of the back, the left front, and right front, the gapconfigured to permit access to one or more pieces of equipment removablycoupled to the tactical vest.
 15. A method for manufacturing a tacticalvest overlay jacket, the method comprising: joining a back, a leftfront, a right front, and a pair of sleeves, into an overlay jacketwherein the overlay jacket is configured to join with a tactical vestand wherein the right front and the left front are disjoint creating anopen front area and wherein a front portion of the tactical vestoccupies the open front area independent of the left front and the rightfront; dimensioning the back, the left front, and right front to becircumferentially greater than the tactical vest;; adding a thermalprotection layer to each of the pair of sleeves; and incorporating oneor more fasteners to each the left front and the right front, the one ormore fasteners configured to fasten the left front and the right front,respectively, to a left lower portion and a right lower portion of thetactical vest proximate of the open front area.
 16. The method formanufacturing a tactical vest overlay jacket according to claim 15,further comprising configuring the gap to provide unimpeded access tothe one or more pieces of equipment removably coupled to the tacticalvest.
 17. The method for manufacturing a tactical vest overlay jacketaccording to claim 15, wherein the left front, the right front and theback are void of the thermal protection layer.
 18. The method formanufacturing a tactical vest overlay jacket according to claim 15,wherein the lower portion of the overlay jacket has a drawstring. 19.The method for manufacturing a tactical vest overlay jacket according toclaim 15, further comprising incorporating into a left front interiorsurface and a right front interior surface pouch attachment ladderssystem (PALS) webbing and configuring the one or more fasteners torespectively couple the PALS webbing of the left front interior surfaceand the right front interior surface of the overlay jacket to thetactical vest.
 20. The method for manufacturing a tactical vest overlayjacket according to claim 19, wherein the one or more fasteners are eacha hook and loop fastener.
 21. The method for manufacturing a tacticalvest overlay jacket according to claim 19, wherein the one or morefasteners are each a loop and snap fastener.
 22. The method formanufacturing a tactical vest overlay jacket according to claim 19,wherein the one or more fasteners are each a cap and socket fastener.